****Chapter 9 - Revelations, Part 2**

**Tarious' POV**

As quickly as death appeared, she was gone, but she left me with no shortage of confusing thoughts. 'Did she say rumors? What rumors? And what the hell does she mean by antithesis to fate?' I shook my head, trying to dispel the confusing thoughts. Right now, I needed to focus on staying awake. My bones were still being stretched thin, and the constant stream of burning hot silver balls still burned holes inside my skin. However, my body had become so battered and burned that I didn't even register the pain anymore. Honestly, I'm convinced that the only reason I'm alive is because of my regeneration, but I'm sure if I closed my eyes, I wouldn't wake up again. 'Come on, stay awake!' My eyes felt like they were made of lead, and it took all my willpower to keep them open.

An idea suddenly came into my head. 'Yes, that should work.' For a moment, I stopped fighting my body and allowed my eyes to shut. Darkness momentarily consumed my vision as I started looking inward. I blocked out everything—the tiredness, the feeling of my bones being broken and mended, even the scorching hot silver balls burning holes into my skin. All I focused on was feeling my magic core. I looked deep inside myself, searching high and low for my magic core, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find it. 'Come on, come on, where the fuck is it?' My thoughts started racing. 'If I don't find my magic core, I will die.' I took a deep breath. 'All right, calm down. In literally every anime ever, finding your magic core needs you to be as calm as possible.'

I took another breath, calming my racing thoughts, and then I felt it—a tug of energy. Instinctively, I pulled on that energy. Suddenly, I found myself in a strange location. The gentle scent of vanilla entered my nostrils. I took a deep breath, drawing more of the scent into my system, calming my stressed nerves. Looking around, my eyes came in contact with a sight even more beautiful than Zarious' domain. The night sky was a bright sunshine gold, littered with radiant golden fiery stars that blazed brightly in the night sky. The golden moon stood proudly, casting golden streams of light down on the land. Standing in this place made me feel energized, it was like my body was slowly being filled and empowered with energy.

I felt a warm, wet sensation enveloping my foot. I looked down to see that my legs were standing on golden-colored water as if it were solid ground. "The hell?" I said aloud, my voice echoing my confusion. "Am I standing on water?" I took a tentative step just to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Golden waves rippled beneath my feet, but strangely, I still didn't fall into the water. It was like an invisible force was preventing me from falling. "Call me elven Jesus, everyone," I chuckled to myself.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

My eyes suddenly widened as I felt something—the familiar tug from earlier—pulling me in a random direction. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was walking, following the feeling. Waves rippled beneath my feet. After a while of walking, I came across something shocking, to say the least. In the center of the water sat a figure. Like everything else in this strange place, he was colored in gold. He was an ethereal figure like that of a ghost. Stars, planets, asteroids, and all different types of cosmic phenomena happened all over his body. I think I even saw a supernova going off inside him, but that wasn't the strangest thing. The weirdest thing was the figure looked exactly like me, and instinctively, I knew what he was—he was my soul given physical form. And where I was now was my soul space.

"So this is my soul space, huh? But why is everything golden-themed? I can't say I was that big of a fan of the color," I shrugged. "I can't deny it's beautiful, though." I walked towards my soul self and reached out to touch him. Just from being this close alone, I felt a rush of energy flood my body. Just as my hand was about to make contact with my soul self, I felt something. Someone was glaring at me. I didn't know from where; it was like they were looking at me from everywhere all at once. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt the presence. It was similar to that bastard's bloodlust but ten million times worse. Strangely though, unlike when I was faced with the bloodlust, I wasn't stopped or prevented from moving. My thoughts began racing. 'What the fuck is this now? Who is this guy? Can I get a break?' I took a breath, calming myself down. 'It doesn't really matter. They're just looking at me. So whatever it is or whoever it is, I'm fine for now.' My hand came in contact with my soul self, and my vision was flooded with golden light as I felt my muscles strengthening with near-limitless power.

I opened my eyes and found myself back inside the room. I flexed my arms, now rippling with power. The bindings came undone with a snap. I did the same with my legs, and the chair shattered into pieces. I landed on my feet with an audible thud. "This is the part where most people stretch their limbs, but I think I had enough stretching for the next century," I chuckled to myself. I looked down at my hands; they were pristine and white as if I hadn't just been tortured for God knows how long. They were coated in a faint golden glow. I squeezed my hands, a smirk coming to my face. For the first time in two lives, my body felt strong.

Now that I wasn't being constantly tortured, I took a moment to look around. It looked like we were in some type of old military base. The air smelled of must and mold. Dust and spider webs littered the surroundings that were illuminated by bright silver-white light. Bright green paint was peeling off the walls, revealing chunks of grey. Holographic computers hovered over rusted metal desks. On a table to the right laid various weapons that the bastard had tortured me with. "I'm guessing that bastard is in hiding given that despite the state of this place, he went through the effort of powering this place with utility magic to power the lights and computers," I spoke aloud.

I headed over to the table, picking up two silver daggers that shined dangerously in the luminous light. They felt warm and comfortable in my hands. I gave them a preparatory swing. They glided through the air with an audible "zzz" as the air was cut. My eyes glinted with a maniacal light as my cold voice rang out throughout the base. "We will see how you like being tortured, you bastard." I was about to head over to one of the computers to gather information on where I was and who the bastard was when sparks of green light started forming right in front of me. I clutched the daggers, a psychopathic smile spreading across my face as I prepared for a fight.

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